This is an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural study of widowhood and aging in the American Southwest--Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado--from 1847, when the Mormons began to settle in Utah, to 1939, when the U.S. Congress expanded coverage of the Social Security Act to assume for the first time a national responsibility for widows. Through a collaboration of twelve scholars, the research will investigate and contrast the personal and social aspects of widowhood among the major ethnic and religious groups in the Southwest. By focusing on a diverse region through a period of change, we have an opportunity to understand variations on the universal experience of widowhood, a highly stressful experience for most women in the later stages of life. First, study of Native American, Hispano and Anglo populations, and the Mormon religious group, will demonstrate the impact of different cultural traditions and institutions, such as the family, church, law, political structures, and informal social organizations on the life of the widow. Second, the economic development of the region in mining, agriculture, railroading, and urban commercial and communities permits investigation of the options available to widowed women of different social classes and in different economic settings. The research will proceed by means of case studies, some focusing on particular groups, periods or places, others examining a particular institution, for example, the law, through the entire period and comparing cultural traditions. The final product will be a book of essays integrated through introductory and concluding chapters. It will be useful as a reference or text in the history of aging, women's history, sociology, social issues, anthropology and gerontology.